Brazil studying if Boeing-Embraer deal is in its 'ideal form'

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil national security adviser Augusto Heleno said on Monday that the government is studying whether the deal between planemakers Embraer (EMBR3.SA) and Boeing (BA.N) is in its “ideal form” or in need of changes.

Embraer in December agreed to sell 80 percent of its commercial aviation business to Boeing for $4.2 billion. The deal requires the government’s blessing to go forward.

Heleno, speaking to reporters at a press conference, added that the government was not “thinking of interrupting negotiations.” He said the government wants a deal that will be “the best possible for the country.”

President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday expressed concern about a provision in the agreement that would allow Boeing to end up with 100 percent of the commercial division business, extinguishing Embraer’s participation. He described the Brazilian planemaker, which is a private company, as part of the national “patrimony” and said he did not want to see it “pass to the other side,” in a reference to full Boeing ownership.

Before becoming president, Bolsonaro and his advisers spoke favorably of the Boeing-Embraer deal, but without addressing specific details.